Drinking at work was OK

Reading Eagle

Berks County, PA -

Drinking on the job is cause for dismissal in our contemporary, zero-tolerance culture. But 30 years ago, employees at the former Reading Brewing Co. at Ninth and Laurel streets not only had access to fresh beer at the plant, but were invited to imbibe to their heart’s content.

Back then, the sternewirt, a taproom for employees, was a common fixture at breweries across the land.

"They could drink as much and as often as they wanted," said Joseph W. Pichler, who spent more than nine years at the Reading brewery, which closed in April 1976.

Pichler, who said he only drank at lunch, believed workers built up a tolerance to the beer.

"You would see no one inebriated," he said.

Walter Makara, a 25-year veteran of the Reading plant, said he rarely drank at work and most times preferred coffee.

"I guess you get immune to it," said Makara, referring to employees who took advantage of the job perk.

Adolph G. Uhrig Jr., assistant brewmaster at the plant from 1951 to 1976, said some workers were known to stop at a tavern before work, drink all day at work, then hit the tavern again at the end of their shift.

"They were good drinkers, I’ll say that," Uhrig said.

It wasn’t only employees who could sample the fresh brew. Uhrig hosted evening tours for local tavern customers, who would indulge in pretzels, cheese, bologna and all the free beer they could consume.

At the brewery’s closing, Uhrig said employees made a concerted effort to polish off the final keg.

"The last day, we’re all in the sternewirt, working overtime," he said.